1. Field of the Disclosure
The present invention relates to ferrous metallurgy, namely, to the alloying and modification of steel with atomic nitrogen, which in contrast to molecular nitrogen, possesses unique physico-chemical properties, a very high chemical potential and highest energy potential, under influence of which the nature of the steel alloying and modification changes and causes fundamental physical qualities of steel.
2. Description of the Related Art
An object of the present invention relates to the ferrous metallurgy, namely, to secondary steel treatment, which is smelted in any steel melting unit and transformed into a casting ladle, where further technological operations related to deoxidation, alloying, modifying and refining steel are conducted. At present, almost all produced steel undergoes treatment with molecular nitrogen in the process of alloying by purging the liquid phase with molecular nitrogen, or by introducing into the melt nitrided ferroalloys. e.g., nitrided ferromanganese, ferrosilicon, ferrosilicon manganese, and/or ferrochrome, in combination with nitride-forming elements such as Al, Ni, V, and/or Ti. Positive results of the steel alloying with nitrogen have been achieved due to a high energy potential of molecular nitrogen, which is 10 times higher than the potential of the main alloying element of iron, i.e. carbon, thereby achieving increased durability, flexibility and impact elasticity of steel. See e.g., Gudremon E., Special steels (translated from German), V. 1-2-M, Metallurgy, p. 1242, 1966.
However, the technology of steel alloying with nitrogen containing ferroalloys and purging a liquid phase of steel with nitrogen gas has significant drawbacks which have been clearly revealed from the latest research conducted by academic science on an energy level of the potential of atomic nitrogen. It has been established that under the same temperature and pressure conditions, saturation of a steel melt with atomic nitrogen is 10 thousand times higher than the saturation of steel with molecular nitrogen. See, e.g., Averin V. V., Revyakin A. V., Nitrogen in metals, M. Metallurgy, p. 224, 1976.
Generation of atomic nitrogen through the dissociation of N2 of nitrogen gas, or nitrogen of nitrogen containing ferroalloys requires high energy consumption, because its dissociation energy is 992 kJ/mol and almost equals to the energy of dissociation of inert argon, which is why even at the temperature of 3300° C. a level of dissociation of a nitrogen molecule does not exceed 0.1%. See, e.g., Lyakishev N. P. et al., Encyclopedic dictionary on metallurgy, V. 1, M., “Intenmet Engineering” p. 412, 2000.